This invention relates to a synthetic fiber rope with a coupling element for transmitting an adjustment force (tensile force) acting on the rope to an adjustable part to be connected with the rope via the coupling element.
It is known to use ropes as flexible pulling means, via which a driving torque generated by a drive, e.g. by a hand-operated drive (crank drive) or a power-operated drive (electromotive drive), or an associated adjustment force can be transmitted to an adjustable part connected to the rope, such as to an adjustable element of a motor vehicle, in order to transfer the adjustable part into a specifiable adjusted position.
For connecting an adjustable part to a rope it is common practice that an element separate from the rope, which here is referred to as coupling element, is attached to the rope, which in turn—directly or indirectly via additional interface elements—is connected with the adjustable part to be connected to the rope.
In motor vehicle window lifters in which an adjustable window pane of a motor vehicle forms an adjustable part, it is provided, for example, to attach a so-called rope nipple to a rope which transmits an adjustment force generated by a window lifter drive to the adjustable window pane, which rope nipple extends around the circumference of a portion of the rope referred to as connecting portion and to which the adjustable part to be connected to the rope can be attached, e.g. in that the rope nipple (positively) engages in the adjustable part. For this purpose, the latter for example can include a so-called nipple chamber into which the rope nipple can be inserted such that in operation of the window lifter it is positively held therein. The nipple chamber regularly is provided not at the adjustable window pane itself, but rather at a so-called carrier connected with the window pane (in the region of its lower pane edge), which carries along the window pane during a respective adjusting movement.
Correspondingly, it is known to adjust a seat part of a motor vehicle by using a flexible pulling means in the form of a rope, in that the rope on the one hand is operatively connected with a drive serving to generate an adjustment force and on the other hand is coupled with an adjustable seat part via a coupling element provided at the rope.
When using a synthetic fiber rope, i.e. a rope made of synthetic fibers (plastic rope), as pulling means for transmitting an adjustment force to an adjustable part to be connected to the rope, it was found that under the influence of large forces in continuous operation of the adjusting means a rope nipple used for connecting said adjustable part possibly is not able to maintain its intended mounting position at the connecting portion of the rope provided for this purpose. This is due to the fact that the connection between the rope nipple and the rope has no sufficient stability, in order to permanently withstand the loads occurring in operation of the adjusting means, so that the rope nipple (in particular by slipping along the direction of extension of the rope) loses its intended mounting position at the rope.